Back To School Beauty & Health Tips
School is here and it does not matter if we are ready for it or not. A lot of people like to meme about the idea that summers are the hardest months for parents. If you are a parent of school-aged kids you no longer have a set time of the day that they are away from the house. However, even with the added hours that you’re responsible for caring for your children, the stress of summer has nothing on the stress of school. Pick ups, drop offs, after school activities, school performances, club trips, and even PTA meetings take up all of our time. When our schedules are the toughest, the thing that gets cut out first is often self care. That shouldn’t be the case, but it is. To counteract the back-to-school madness, the team at White Rainbow Spa has some health and beauty tips for parents.
Back to School Tips from Norman Day Spa Experts
The team at White Rainbow Spa are experts at relaxation and recuperation. We know what it takes to remove stress and reverse aging. Never are these tools more relevant than those back to school days when we parents feel like we are aging by the moment. There are few things on this planet that can add wrinkles or gray hairs quite like dealing with kids who hate the end of summer. In order to keep your sanity, we have put together a list of ways you can preserve your health and beauty no matter how stressful times get in the back to school rush.
Rest When You Can
Back to school means helping kids with late night projects or last minute shopping trips to prepare for a classroom party. Our already intense schedules can get even more intense. Over 60% of parents report that they lose sleep once their kids go back to school. Part of this has to do with the schedules. However, part of this has to do with back to school anxiety. Many kids are nervous about going back to school, especially those who are going to new schools. It is no different for parents.
One of the best ways to deal with anxiety of all types is to sleep. Sleeping helps the body heal, physically and emotionally. It gives us the strength we need to tackle all of life’s challenges. Whenever we are operating on less sleep than we need, we start to face cognitive impairment, which makes every task more difficult. When tasks are more difficult, the stress increases. It is likely that you’re too busy to nap, but that just places even more importance on your nightly sleep. Set yourself up to get deep rest by eliminating screen time before you rest and making sure you’re comfortable. This will help you feel refreshed and rejuvenated, ready to tackle whatever life throws your way.
Build a Support Network
Many hands make light work, and that is true of taking care of your kids. Somewhere along the way we have lost our “it takes a village” mentality. Instead, we have tried to become superheroes who can handle anything without help. That is an unfair burden to place on ourselves. There simply are not enough hours in the day to take care of everything our kids need and take care of ourselves. Any chance you can take to share the burden is a great start. Organize carpools for pick up, drop off, or even school events. Encourage your kids to start study groups, so that you are not the only one helping with homework. The research is conclusive that peer learning is best for student achievement.
Treat Yourself
While self care is often the first thing that goes on the back burner, it can’t stay there forever. Whenever you are flying with kids the safety instructions tell you to put on your oxygen mask first before helping with the kids. The reason for this is simple; if you are not functioning then you cannot take care of your kids. Take this advice to heart and apply it to the rest of your life. If you are stressed then it is likely that everyone else in your family is stressed. The old saying “happy wife, happy life” is true! Take care of yourself and put some joy in your life so that you can spread it around to those you love.
It is unreasonable to think that you can set aside time each day to take care of your needs without having to help others, especially with school back in session. However, you can carve out special moments for yourself. If your only time available is a lunch break, then plan yourself a facial treatment. Norman traffic is getting you down, pull over and take five minutes for a meditation session. Taking care of yourself can be as elaborate as booking an entire weekend at a Norman day spa for you and your friends, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be as simple as a candle lit bubble bath. Simple acts of self care, like spa treatments, help reduce cortisol in your body. Cortisol is part of our fight or flight system and can damage our health. Reducing cortisol levels goes a long way toward being your best.
Final Thoughts
When school buses are flying down the street and kids are clamoring for you to buy them new backpacks, stress and anxiety can build. During these times it is important to remember that you have control over your situation. You might not have control over your schedule, but you can control how you feel as you go through your day. The bottom line is that when you take care of yourself it is easier to take care of others. Remember, taking care of yourself can be elaborate like a girl's trip to a winery. But, it can also be a simple brow waxing session so that you feel pretty. Take it from the Norman day spa experts at White Rainbow Spa: back to school means getting back to self care. Contact us if you want some help relaxing with the kids back in class.